how long

How long do you reckon it is before cochrane loses interest and runs off with his bag of money.

Two reasons I don't think he wil. First, it's a golden egg-laying goose for him.
Second, probably more important, it gives him power.

Disagree - within 15-18 months would be my guess. Why? Crowds are already showing signs of waning, circuits are now starting to question the cost/benefits of having the V8's and he hasn't got enough/won't get enough local street circuits.

Notice I said local - as soo0n as he tries to take it overseas the popularity will fall because the teams will still only want to do their 10 rounds -and my maths says this will mean less rounds in Australia.

I don't know....I'm sure he could get his power fix elsewhere. How to fix waning crowds? Well since it simply is no longer profitable for permanant facilities to host meetings, then they don't want them (and these are the tracks where numbers are going down), then build a street circuit and have 100,000 people turn up...

Except the cost of street circuits is just going to spiral - plus you will end up with abortions like Canberra.

Crowds will soon tire of not being able to see more than the 100 metres directly infront of them, having to pay high entry fees AND pay additional for so called 'grandstand' seating (with, again, very limited views).

At least at the perm tracks, the action CAN be followed around the track - try doing that at Adelaide, Canberra, Melbourne or Bathurst for that matter.

I'm totally in agreement with you, RaceTime. These events (Bathurst excepted) will forever detract from racing in the long term. They might introduce some TV viewers to the circuit proper, but the costs will remain an indelible memory, along with the discomfort and the lack of visibility.

The old catchcry with Bathurst was "You see more on TV!" This is even more relevant with these circuits, for at Bathurst you can watch cars down the straight from up on the Mountain etc.

Through it all, the modern lack of appreciation of the needs of the spectator are being forgotten. To the ultimate detriment of the sport as a whole.

The V8 Supercar bubble has to burst soon. They are too damn dear. Prices have to be cut, to attract more drivers, and to give everyone a chance of a good result.

It runns in cycles Cochrane will end up selling V8's to Alan Gow.

DNQ- that's right...STing was the greatest thing known to man, but it priced itself out of the contest. Sure there is the Konica series, but they seem to have a sponsorship problem....

Imagine is Holden or Ford pulled the plug? What would that do??

Ford has pulled out before and, no doubt, they will do it again if they believe it is necessary.